Jumpers
by Huehxolotl
Summary: Police officer Someya Yukari just wants to eat lunch. Artist Kamijou Maki just wants to enjoy her view. Somehow, both are quite sure the other is about to make a very drastic move.


Someya Yukari was a police officer, and a damned good one at that. Though she had been on the force for a short three years, she already had a number of commendations, and was about ready to take a promotion. None of it was luck, or reliance on her father's status as chief detective either. She had gotten as far as she had by working hard for it, and knowing her strengths and weaknesses.

She was strong, she was fit, she could handle stressful situations and could make snap decisions in the heat of moment. What she _wasn't_ was a particularly strong people person, which begged the question; what exactly did she think she was doing right now?

"Good luck."

The civilian who had hysterically dragged her to the top of the building pushed her to the door. Holding back a large sigh, she exited the stairwell without looking back. If she looked back, she might change her mind, and that was probably a bad example to set. She found her target quickly, a person of undetermined age and sex, sitting at the ledge of the building.

The door slammed heavily behind her, causing both her and the potential suicide jumper to flinch in alarm. Internally cringing, there was a moment where she feared the noise would cause the person to fall off the ledge. Wouldn't _that_ be a good report to write up? "I went up to help, but accidently scared them off of the ledge." She'd never live it down.

Accidently killing a person would be tragic too, of course.

"Officer-san?"

Oh, damn, the jumper had spoken first. That was unfair. She didn't know what to say yet! This was _not_ her area of expertise here. In fact, she been told more than once to never consider this field of specialty. Not that she ever had. Crying people always had a way of pissing her off.

"Care if I join you?"

There, that was a decent start. Nothing too harsh or alarming. Thankfully, the jumper (who she noticed was female) didn't look very skittish, which was actually quite odd, now that she thought about it. If she remembered correctly, jumpers were easily set off and, as a rule, nervous and fidgety. The woman she was looking at was…

Was smiling at her, shoulder length hair rustling across her face in the wind.

It figured that she would get the weird one, the one that didn't follow the rules of her guidebook on How to Keep People From Killing Themselves. Did this mean that the person would not be susceptible to arguments or coercing? Would she get in trouble if she just forcibly dragged them away from the edge and knocked them out?

"I don't mind at all." The woman reminded her of a cheerfully confused puppy, the way she was tilting her head and smiling like that.

Her old friend Jun had a smile like that, but when Jun did it, she just wanted to smack her. Faced with the stranger's grin, she had the sudden urge to pull her away from the edge, pat her head, and feed her.

Perhaps she should look into getting a dog. Obviously her lack of company aside from other officers and her family was starting to affect her.

Settling herself onto the ledge a companionable distance from the jumper, she fished for something to say. Right. What did the manual say about starting a conversation? Something about feelings, maybe? Or was that for later? All she could remember was to not be mean, or something to that effect. To be entirely honest, all she could think about was the lunch she had been about to buy before she had been dragged up here.

"What brings you up here?"

Well. Neutral was better than nothing, she supposed. One of her heels bounced against the wall as her leg swung in the air.

"Ah, a whim, I suppose."

She blinked. A whim? What sort of person would decide to end their life on a _whim_?

"I rather like the view."

It was official. This person was weird.

"And what about you, officer-san?"

Huh? Her? Weren't they supposed to talk about the _jumper_? She would need to review the protocols for dealing with suicide jumpers when she got back to the precinct.

"I didn't really...have much of a choice." Could she say that? It wasn't encouraging by any stretch of the imagination, but words of hope were beyond her.

"Eh?"

You know what? Who cared. This lady didn't _seem_ depressed or hopeless. "Honestly, I feel like this situation is too much for me."

"Ah. Wait. Are you?"

"I'm sorry, but I don't think I'll be of much use to-"

She was interrupted by the stranger throwing her arms around her, and pulling her away from the ledge. Grunting as she hit the floor, more in surprise than pain, she braced herself for further attacks, because what _else_ could this be?

No attack came, but she _was_ being squeezed to death.

The woman was pretty, her brain inappropriately took the time to notice. She had nice eyes, too, even if they _were_ much too close for comfort.

"I won't let you give up!"

….What?

"Just because things may be hard right now-"

Hold on.

"Doesn't mean you should-"

What the hell?

"Give up on life!"

Wasn't that supposed to be _her_ line?!

"You're still young and beautiful!"

Wait. Did she say beautiful? No, now was not the time to be flattered.

"Um. I don't think-" she tried to interrupt.

"It would be such a waste!"

"You've got it wrong-"

"If you need help, just ask!"

"What I _need_ is for you to-"

"I'm sure your family will be devastated if you-"

Agitated now, because the lady wasn't listening to her at all, she struggled against the hold and...couldn't break free. This was ridiculous! She trained every day, and could take on any of the men in her precinct in a fair fight, yet she was being held hostage in the arms of a random woman? A small part of her self confidence died in that moment.

"Seriously, would you just. Hey! WILL YOU LISTEN?"

The woman stopped her heartfelt rant, tears in her eyes. Then she sniffled pathetically and Yukari felt her anger wither away. Had puppy eyes ever worked on her before? She didn't think so, and yet even her irritation was threatening to fade.

"I'm _not_ going to jump."

"Really?"

"...Really."

"Oh. That. That's good then." The woman appeared to be legitimately relieved at the assurance, which was beyond weird as they hadn't even shared their names yet. Why would she care so much about a stranger?

...Now that she thought about it, hadn't the first step in her guidebook for "Keeping People From Killing Themselves" been to exchange names? Whoops.

"Yeah."

They both took the time to settle themselves down, neither quite sure what to say now that this strange situation had been resolved.

It was when the woman's mumbled apology next to her ear sent shivers down her spine that she remembered that she was pinned to the ground, secure in the arms of a _stranger_. Before she could help herself, she was taking note of the lips that accidentally brushed against her neck, the pleasantly light smell of either perfume or shampoo, the hand clutching at her waist, and the knee that only needed to move up _just a little bit more_ before it-

Oh good god she needed to get away right now.

"...Can you let me go now?" she asked, voice just a little more high-pitched than usual.

The woman turned bright red, then loosened her grip and jumped up off of her. Shifting her balance anxiously, the woman looked off to the side as a flush worked down her neck and into her chest, and damn it all but she couldn't help but wonder just how far down it went.

The officer was slower to follow, sedately taking the hand that was promptly offered to her. The turn of events was too much for, and all she wanted was to get off of the rooftop, eat, and rethink her exercise routines.

"...Sorry."

Accepting the stranger's awkward attempts to dust her off, an unusually tolerant action on her part, she straightened her now rumpled uniform with a sigh. "Let's just forget this happened. Please."

Her stomach chose that moment to protest her lack of nutrition, the same moment the wind died down and all other noise in the area disappeared.

"Ah…"

She wondered if it was too late to take a dive off the roof.

"I'm leaving," she said bluntly, hoping her cheeks weren't as red as she suspected they were. Next time, she would just call for backup and let someone _else_ deal with any suicide jumpers (never mind that this hadn't exactly been that sort of situation).

"There's a cafe on the next block!" The words came out in a rush, and it was harder to tell which of them was more surprised. Rubbing the back of her neck nervously, the woman cleared her throat, took a deep breath, and continued a little more confidently, "If you're _able_ to, I mean, are you in the middle of a shift? I feel bad about the, uh, misunderstanding."

Able to what? Eat? "That's where I was headed to, actually. To take lunch."

"Would you mind if I joined you, then?"

"Not at all," escaped her mouth before she could even comprehend the question. No, she was too distracted by the woman's transformation from sheepishly nervous to a shining, grinning lady with hope sparkling in hazel eyes.

"Great! Shall we go?"

 _ **~A Few Days Later~**_

"I see. So that's how you wound up with a date, huh?"

Yukari groaned and covered her face miserably. "It's not a date. I think," she protested weakly.

"At least you seemed to enjoy your lunch with her the other day," her mother chuckled. "Now what are you planning on wearing _tonight_? Did she say where you would be going? Oh, it's been years since you went on a date."

Making a face at her mother's enthusiasm, she resigned herself to a long hour of questioning before she departed for her _outing_. Not date. Probably.


End file.
